Ur­ban liv­ing room

The culture house ties the urban center together

The Copenhagen suburb of Hvidovre is carrying out a transition of the urban center, which holds administrative functions as well as the old cultural venue, Risbjerggård. The municipality held an architectural competition in 2018 to egnite the major development plan with a new home for the cultural scene of Hvidovre. Vandkunsten won the competition.

With its location in the heart of the urban center of Hvidovre, it is the purpose for the cultural center to connect, strengthen and intensify the Hvidovre’s already existing qualities such as the strong community of locals and of the municipal activities. It is the ambition to strengthen the connection with the public institutions such as the library, the town hall across the street, and that the design of the outdoor spaces becomes an active part of this development.

House without a backside

"It is a premise for the project that the culture house opens up to the public and the town in different ways and towards all directions. Our proposal for the Culture house is split into smaller entities to fit into the local context without dominating it. – it is a scheme without back sides in a scale that is tailored to the surrounding cityhall and villa neighbors"
Flemming Ibsen, Architect MAA and partner at Vandkunsten

Five volumes

The 2700 square meters of the new culture house is organized in five separate volumes – four new structures and the historical Risbjerggaard. The local Theater Vestvolden will move to new facilities in the house and the theater will be the middle and largest of the new volumes.

The orangery is the heart

An orangery connects the five volumes and this is also the main entrance and the focal point of daily activities.